This is my creative professional work look 🙂
Frazier & Wing Elliott Dress in white* – size medium (gift from the designer to review)
with Elizabeth Suzann mules & Marsell Dritta 4 bag
Super casual creative professional outfit:
with EYTYS canvas sneakers & James Perse mini canvas tote
Weekend late summer outfit:
with Teva platform sandals & James Perse mini canvas tote
Over Rag & Bone Wicked jeans with Birkenstock Arizona Sandals
Happy Wednesday!! As promised, here are so many more pictures of the Elliott dress by Frazier & Wing I hinted about last week.
I have to qualify this review by saying that I have not worn this dress outside the house yet because it’s just way too hot for mid-weight cotton twill; mid-August in DFW is no joke. And since I work at home, my lifestyle is such that I wear things I can be outside for long periods of time in. I have worn it around the house quite a bit and put it through the motions enough to get a pretty good feel for how it will “perform” out in the wild LOL. Beautifully, I think.
The dress is 100% Japanese cotton twill, pre-washed and pre-shrunk. It is brushed twill, so super-soft, and very sturdy. It holds it’s shape well, and is nice and warm for wearing in air conditioning during the summer months and outside when it cools off a bit. I’ve actually never worn anything that feels like this does; it’s such a luxurious but still practical fabric – I love it. Oh, and can you guess what color undergarments I’m wearing?? Can’t, can you? As I was wearing the dress, I caught a shadow of my black undies in the mirror when I looked hard enough, but honestly, the fabric is mostly opaque so I don’t think it requires a slip, unless you want to add a layer of warmth and coverage.
And someone on instagram asked me about wrinkling. When I took these photos I had already worn the dress at home on another day, and on this day, photographed it after an hour or so of up and down, sitting, standing, working on fulfilling orders for slowre, so you can get a good idea of how it looks with “hard” wear. Not too shabby. It wrinkles, but the heavier fabric keeps the dress from looking messy at all.
I’m wearing the size medium (For size reference, I am about 5’3″ with a 36a bust, 30″ waist and 40″ hips – my inseam is 26.5″), which fits me very well up top at the shoulders and chest. It’s a teeny bit snug at first in the upper arms, but gives nicely with wear. Since the dress is an a-line shape, it gets quite wide starting at the waist, but I don’t think it looks overwhelming. To be honest, I think it could be cut a little more narrow, but the wider cut does make the dress much more dramatic!
I have thought a lot about the length of the dress on me, and while I really do like it as-is (I’m really into midi-length right now, and I tend to dislike a-line knee length skirts and dresses on me), I’m thinking of taking it to my tailor to have the hem cut off about a 1/2 inch up and keeping it raw – I’ll have her sew around the bottom right above the raw hem so it stays in check. I think it would just fit my “undone” look a little better with the raw hem. And then when/if I get tired of it, I can always re-do a regular hem. Or I could just leave it as is. I may just wait until the weather is cool enough that I can actually WEAR it before I do anything to it…
The Elliott dress is very well suited to a creative professional work environment, but would also wear well on the weekends with sneakers (as seen above!). I did find it difficult to layer with a jacket, however, since the cotton is so sturdy and the top so structured – wearing it for winter would be challenging. Although it would be beautiful with a shawl or heavy scarf.
I’m so excited to have had the opportunity to try something from Frazier & Wing. Heather has done an amazing job with her collection, and I’m so pleased to have been able to introduce her to you. Her craftsmanship is beautiful; this dress is so well made, I know all you sewers will appreciate it! Oh, and in addition to the white and ochre which she has online, Heather can make this dress with a beautiful NAVY fabric too – you just have to email her.
So, if you’re interested in trying an Elliott dress for yourself, or any other pieces from Frazier & Wing (the Sherman top looks pretty awesome), please use code GRECHEN15 for 15% off your order. The code is good one time per customer and expires at the end of the year.
What do you think of Frazier & Wing? And white dresses?? This is my first white dress…I didn’t even get married in one!
*Heather from Frazier & Wing sent me this dress to review and wear, I was not paid for this post or for my opinion.
It looks like the dress hem is over a half inch wide, so it is going to have to be unpicked anyway, so if you like the length, why not just cut along the bottom hem fold itself and keep the length? I’m glad I waited to order so I can use the code! Thanks!!!!
i need you to live nearby LOL
excellent idea though, thank you!! i may or may not try that. do you have any experience with this heavier fabric and how it will do with a raw hem? I mentioned it to heather and she hadn’t tried it…
hi! I was the one who asked about the wrinkling. 😉
thank you for addressing that. I love this on you.
but it didn’t occur to me that it might be tough
to wear something over it. and I’m all about
layering. and I wear a cardigan almost every
day of the year. :-/ hmmm. what to do!
So I was in Portland last weekend and hoped to do a studio visit, but unfortunately Heather’s husband was in the hospital so we couldn’t schedule it. So I’ll have to rely on your review!
I am completely into dresses right now–it seems too hard to figure out what top to wear with what bottom, plus I don’t want anything constricting on my waist / stomach right now.
yes! he is going to be okay, but is recovering from an accident 🙁
this definitely is not waist/stomach restricting!…
hi sharon, you’re welcome! i’m really glad you asked about that.
with regard to the layering, it could be just a problem that i have, honestly, because the sleeves are a teeny bit snug on my upper arms? if you have room in the sleeves the top of the dress will lay a little flatter, if that makes sense, and won’t pull as much as it seemed to when I tried to wear a denim jacket on top, for example.
my upper arms are muscular/flabby and sleeves can be sort of tight there sometimes, but everything else will fit well. unfortunately this makes it a little harder to layer with a sweater or jacket on top for me.
you could also do a cardigan or jacket just draped over your shoulders, as the “cool” girls seem to do lately LOL – i’m not sure i could do that, but it’s a thought! I will probably wear it in fall with a light scarf and then maybe in even cooler weather with an oversized cashmere scarf. cozy!!
I need you to live near me, as well ;-). I have ordered, but not yet received this dress (in ochre.) So I’m not sure what the weight is, but generally speaking, the heavier the fabric the more nicely it frays. In fact, if the fabric is fine/slinky it may fray beyond the line you sew to try to prevent that.
yes, wrinkling is an important subject to me!
i always do the wrinkle test in the store. 😀
there are some fabrics (and styles) that look
okay wrinkled, but for the most part, no.
glad to hear this fabric is fairly sturdy.
thanks for explaining the fit in better detail.
the “cool” girls. hahaha.
that’s not me. for better or worse.
how you’ll wear it in fall/winter sounds perfect.
especially for where you are.
i want to be able to wear it wear it most of the year
(excepting summer) and would layer it with tights/leggings
and sweaters and coats. yay! my instinct was the ochre (not a color
i wear) but i loooove navy always and black.
i also really like the Minette dress.
too many decisions….
thanks again!
s
i love dresses for both those reasons
and more! especially ones like
these. so many ways to wear it.
I LOVE this dress! It’s so clean and simple yet very classic and elegant. Do you know what the turnaround time is for her designs? Is it like ES where they make to order and so we wait for 6-8 wks or thereabouts. Thanku for the coupon Grechen, makes me very tempted to buy! 🙂
no, not so long…i think it’s a week or so? to be safe, I’d email her and find out.
from her website, it says 7-14 days turnaround time so that’s not bad at all. I liked reading about her and love that she named her company after her mom and dad. I ended up being a total copy-cat (again!) and ordered the Elliot in white. I swear, Grechen, I think half my closet is filled with clothes you have reviewed here. But I can’t help it, you have the BEST TASTE and you are my muse!
i love that 🙂
thank you! i can’t wait to hear what you guys think…
I just bought it in Ochre, thanks for the link/discount! I’m not usually one to wear a dress, but this looks so fantastic on you, I’m feeling inspired. Can’t wait!
Thank you for the review post Grechen! And many thanks to all you beautiful ladies who placed orders:))))
Dear Grechen,
I feel the same as Henny!You are my muse as well
I am not into dresses on me right now but do love them on you
Keep it coming-
Much Love,
Gena
yay!! can’t wait to hear what you think…
thank you gena 🙂
I love the a-line shape! I think it’s very flattering. I’d get the dress in ochre, but I fear the arms would be too tight on me.
That dress looks great. I like the bottom look with the jeans.
The Minette dress on their site is really tempting.
Wow, I love this dress on you! So many styling options. I really love white and I adore a dress with pockets. The shape of this is so good.
I received the Elliott dress in white (same as what Grechen is wearing in this post), this week and wore it to work yesterday. I do LOVE this dress! I got it in size small and when I first tried it on it felt a tad snug in my shoulder/upper body area but as I wore it, I felt the material stretch and conform nicely w/my body. The cotton is so, so soft and very durable. It’s thick but doesn’t feel heavy at all when I wear it. My co-worker kept complimenting me on it yesterday and wanted to know where I got the dress so I told her about Heather’s site and your coupon link, Grechen. I totally see myself wearing this dress often. Oh, and I got a little dirt or something on it but was happy to see that with a dab of water, the stain disappeared. I think this is my 3rd white dress this summer too 🙂